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TRP: Goro and Sugar (Nightmare)
Coyote: at 1:17 PM Inside Sugar/Nixie's room, late at night. The gossamer curtains around Nixie's bed are closed, and both Nixie and Goro are asleep in their respective beds. Nixie saw it all vividly. Mishka was standing over her bed. Crawling into her bed. His eyes and mouth dripping black, his tunic ripped open in the front, a smoking fractal lightning scar over his heart. Inky black blood leaking from his arm. "Sweetheart, calm down," Mishka said, in a honeyed voice that wasn't his own. "You'll get it eventually. Just focus." The things he always said to her during lessons. His hand clasped around her throat, pressing down with his thumbs. Black blood leaked from his teeth, dripping into her mouth. Sugar shrieked. But didn't wake, locked her in nightmare. She tried to move, to scramble away, but something was wrapped around her, a blanket. Lina: at 1:26 PM Goro's eyes flew open and he sat up, hand wrapped around his knife handle. He scanned the room for anything out of place. Checked under his cot. Eyed Nixie's curtained-in bed for any movement. And he listened. Something had woken him. A sound, something besides the waves slapping the hull. Then he heard it again: whimpering, coming from her bed. He crept off the cot and over to the curtains. He brought the knife just in case something wasn't right, but held it behind his back so it wouldn't startle her. He nudged the curtain aside. No intruder. She was still asleep, her face twisted up in distress. Nightmare, most likely. He really wasn't sure if he should wake her up. When people woke him up, he was liable to stab them. Coyote: at 1:30 PM Nixie shook, curling tight into a ball. She kicked at the covers and couldn't get them off her. Her face was clammy white-pink, like a heat-flushed human. She didn't wake. Lina: at 1:32 PM "Nixie," he said. Nothing. He shoved the knife into the sheath at his ankle and took her by the shoulders. Shook her, just a little at first, then harder when she didn't respond. "Nixie. Wake up."(edited) Coyote: at 1:38 PM Nixie woke, suddenly, and the vision broke and changed. Mishka's hands were on her neck.... and then someone else's hands were on her shoulders. There was something wet dripping on her face from above-- droplets falling from a crack in the ceiling, rain above deck, wet on her canopy. Someone was leaning over her, still. Nixie shrieked and threw out her hand, and a ice materialized right in front of her, sharp, headed right for Goro's face, his eyes, like Mishka taught her to. Goro, she realized a split second too late, and her stomach lurched. He jerked aside, though, ready for it, arm flying up to protect his eyes. The ice knife sank into his arm instead. Sugar shot upright. "Oh, Goro! I'm so sorry! Oh no, oh no!" Lina: at 1:42 PM "Oh, ffff--fuck, ow." He backed away, cringing, his good hand hovering over the ice knife, which had turned his whole arm useless with agony. Holy shit, that girl could hit hard. "'Sall right," he groaned. "My fault." He staggered for a moment, then sat on the floor to heal himself. Coyote: at 1:51 PM "No, it isn't your fault. You were trying to help." She crawled out of bed. There was blood on her sheets and canopy, now, and it was her own awful fault. She sat on the floor next to him, even though there was nothing she could do to help. She wasn't a healer, she was just... good at hurting things, a lot. Lady sleepily came off the bed, sensing her distress. Fluffy, gray and white, Lady didn't look anything like the other cats. Her eyes had been yellow before, but now that Nixie had bonded with her-- used the Find Familiar thing Ombre had given her-- the cat's eyes had shifted to a fair blue, like Nixie's. The cat sat in Goro's lap. Lina: at 1:53 PM Goro closed the wound and tried making a fist. Fingers still stiff, and sending shooting pains up his arm. Needed another round. But then the cat came and sat on him. "Hi Eggs," he said, scratching her chin. Coyote: at 1:56 PM Goro had stopped healing himself. Maybe he was out of magic for the day, then. Nixie grabbed a healer's kit from where she had it stashed under her bed, then started dabbing the blood off Goro's arm. She wiped her face, which was still wet from the rain. She needed to get that crack fixed. Goro wants to ask you on a date, Lark had said, smiling like it was the funniest joke. Nixie's eyes stung a bit, thinking about it again, but she didn't say anything. What an awful, mean joke that had been. Nixie cleared her throat. She ought to go to sleep now, but she was too wound up. Lina: at 2:01 PM The cat's eyes narrowed in contentment at the chin scratches, but nonetheless Goro caught a glimpse of fair blue. He frowned and manhandled her head a little bit for a better look. Eggs had yellow eyes. "Is this a different cat?" Nixie cleared her throat, and he glanced up at her. She was wiping her face, and he felt like the floor dropped out from under him. "Nixie, it's fine, it's alright." He shook off her attentions on his bloody arm, gently. "I'll take care of it. You should sleep." Coyote: at 2:03 PM "No, um. Same cat. Miss Ombre gave us-- things? And one of them... helped me cast a spell that... helped me bond with Lady. You know, I can-- listen through the kitty, now. I think I'm gonna let Mishie-- I think I'm gonna let Mishka use it too. He'd like that. For Pumpkin." She finished wiping the rain off her face and stood up. She was definitely awake now. "Um... Goro. I want to-- I want to ask." She stared at the floor. "You-- that awful black black wand-- Roddy and Lark said, said something about maybe it killing you? If you used it? And then you did. Anyway." Lina: at 2:05 PM Eggs hopped off his lap, robbing him of his distraction. Traitor. He kept his eyes on his lap anyway. "Uh. Yeah. What's the question?" Coyote: at 2:06 PM "And... then you used it on Mishka." She still remembered, weirdly, how someone had insistently asked why they ought to bring Mishka back. "Because it's my fault he's like this," Goro had said. But he'd hesitated. Lina: at 2:07 PM "That's not a question, Nixie." Realizing he sounded like an asshole, he tossed her a smile to soften it. Probably didn't work. Probably just looked creepy. Coyote: at 2:07 PM "Why?" Nixie said. "Did you do that." Lina: at 2:10 PM "Because..." Well, now that he had a recent, vivid reminder of what a dick Mishka was, that was a damn good question. But he remembered what his reasoning had been at the time. It was the right thing to do. He owed it to him. He'd thought they were friends, almost, maybe. He had to bring Mishka back for Nixie, and fuck, even Hansel. "Someone had to do it. Like I was just going to leave him lying there?" Coyote: at 2:12 PM Nixie bunched in her hands in her nightgown. She wanted to take the wand and break it, but that seemed awful and mean. "Please don't u-use it again. I didn't-- I didn't know it'd... d-do that. To you." Lina: at 2:16 PM He didn't know what to say. Between her and Larkin and Roddy, seemed like it was going to be tricky to pull the thing out a second time, if he needed to. Maybe he'd practice being sneaky about it. "Alright," he said, and even he could hear how half-assed the lie was. Coyote: at 2:21 PM "Oh," she said, startled. "Oh thank god. I thought I was... going to have to-- argue with you." She smiled, pleased with herself. Goro was so easy and honest. She crawled back into bed again, feeling a lot better. "Oh hey," she said, scrambling out again. She crawled under her bed until just her toes and tail were sticking out, then crawled back out again, holding several bottles of wine. "I have these. There's black cherry merlot-- that's the best one-- pink rosé, chardonnay, riesling, white zinfendel... they're all very sweet, except the merlot, that's the driest. I want to give you one. Please." She didn't know any of those things or words first-hand. They were just words Mishka said. But Goro seemed cool, he probably knew what they meant. Lina: at 2:25 PM "Uh." He stares at the bottles. Nixie didn't seem like much of a drinker, and apparently she had a large stash of wine under the bed. Interesting. "I don't, uh. I'm not really a wine person. But." He knew someone who'd enjoy that black cherry, at least. And maybe Nixie would feel flattered if he tried the one she recommended. He took the bottle from her. "I'll go with this one." He rolled it under his cot and sat down. His arm was still killing him, but he felt too distracted to fix it. Guilty, actually. "Nixie, if I do use the wand again..." Coyote: at 2:26 PM Nixie sat up in bed and just looked at him. Lina: at 2:26 PM "It'll be for a good reason." Coyote: at 2:27 PM "Oh." Sugar thought this over, looking at him. The idea made her sick. She frowned at him. "Okay," she said. "I... trust you." Lina: at 2:28 PM He snorted. "You shouldn't, but. I did mean that, at least." Coyote: at 2:28 PM "Why not?" Nixie asked honestly. Lina: at 2:29 PM "Why shouldn't you trust me? 'Cause I'm not an honest guy." Coyote: at 2:34 PM Nixie wrapped her blanket around herself again, now that she was sitting up, because she'd probably be sitting up for a while. She stared at the floorboards, feeling hot and angry and embarrassed again, but not because of what Goro said. She was being stupid. He'd make fun of her if she... said anything, or asked him on a date. Lark would too. They'd probably laugh about it together. Or go kiss or something. No, that didn't make sense. That was dumb. Lark and Goro were like siblings or something. Who knew. Also, it seemed like Goro liked boys. "Well, I do," she said. "Maybe you... aren't a nice person. Or maybe you are. But-- I like how you are, you know. I feel like you'd be nice. To me. But if you're dishonest--" Her hands clenched in her bedding, this time, not her nightgrown. "That's okay too," she said. "I feel like you'd-- you'd have a good reason to lie to me. You can lie to me. If you want." Lina: at 2:35 PM "I don't like lying to you." He leaned back and rested his head against the wall. "There's some lies I tell everyone, though." Coyote: at 2:36 PM "Like what?" Then she bit her tongue. "You don't have to say, if you don't want." Lina: at 2:36 PM He studied her for a moment. He smiled. "You probably think I'm a cleric of Helm, don't you?" Coyote: at 2:37 PM She shrugged. Lina: at 2:37 PM "You want to see something?" Coyote: at 2:37 PM Nixie straightened up, eyes brightening. Lina: at 2:43 PM He stood up, went to the door, and motioned for her to follow. First she took a blanket from her bed--one that had a little blood spatter on it, Goro noticed, but he didn't say anything. She wrapped it around herself and followed him outside. He led her below deck, to his room, and spent the better part of a minute unlocking his door. There wasn't much inside in terms of belongings, but the walls were cluttered. He'd hung up dozens of half-illegible notes to himself, lists of names, marked-up maps and floorplans. But he paid no attention to any of it, leading her instead to a small table along one wall. On it was some kind of altar. There was a small statue of a masked figure, unlit candles, and various knick-knacks. A dish of coins, a vase with a few fresh roses in it. (He always thought that was weird, Mask liking roses. But that's what everyone said.) He watched Nixie for a reaction.(edited) Coyote: at 2:46 PM Her eyes were still wide, taking all the notes in. Everything was so interesting. All the little details. The notes. The odd objects. The altar. The statue-- oh. Oh! That was a different god, then, but Nixie wasn't sure which one. The tip of her tail twitched, and Lady poked her head up out of the blanket where Nixie was carrying her. "Roses?" she said. Lina: at 2:47 PM "He likes them, that's what I've always heard. Mask, the Lord of Shadows. God of thieves." He pauses. "Uh, don't tell anyone." Coyote: at 2:49 PM "Okay. I won't tell anyone, Goro." She glanced up, her eyes roving the notes. Secretly, she felt ridiculously pleased. What a nice room. Lina: at 2:53 PM He followed her gaze to the notes on his wall. Shit, he looked like a crazy motherfucker now. Nixie looked oddly happy to be in here, though. Goro did a quick check of the flowers, making sure they had enough water, and pulling off a couple wilted leaves. "I don't know why I dragged you down here, sorry. You should get back to sleep." Coyote: at 2:53 PM "Okay. You should too, though. You're coming with back. Yes?" Lina: at 2:55 PM "Yeah. Yeah, of course." He leads her through the door and gets to work on the locks. "In case you have another... well, I might try to wake you up differently, if that happens again." Coyote: at 2:57 PM "Maybe just poke me with a stick, next time." They went back upstairs, and Nixie crawled back into bed, pulling the curtains around her again. She touched her hand to the ceiling and iced over the crack; that would work until morning, when it was dry outside and could be fixed with epoxy and glue. She opened a porthole window so she could feel the cold air and hear the rain. Then she buried herself all the way in the blankets and closed her eyes. Lina: at 3:00 PM Goro sat on his cot, and started fixing his arm up the rest of the way. He whispered the prayers so it wouldn't wake her up. Coyote: at 3:00 PM "Goro?" she said after a few moments. "You know how-- I trust you all-- stupid-like, and... you know the way I trust you? Do you-- trust me that way? The same way, I mean. All... stupid-like." There was no other way she could think to describe it. Lina: at 3:01 PM He paused what he was doing. He ground his teeth. "Nixie, who was the first person to tell you you were stupid?" Coyote: at 3:02 PM Sugar fidgeted a little. She didn't look up. "Kelpie and... Selkie." Lina: at 3:02 PM "And who are they?" Coyote: at 3:02 PM "My sisters. They're um, older than me. And were a lot better. At. Doing the things my mom wanted." Lina: at 3:03 PM "And were Kelpie and Selkie honest people? Tell the truth about everything, all the time?" Coyote: at 3:04 PM ".... No." Lina: at 3:05 PM "Seems to me we could conclude they were full of shit. Probably noticed you were the smart one, and got jealous. But yes. I trust you." Coyote: at 3:06 PM "Oh." And she felt ridiculously pleased again. Felt that hot feeling in her chest. He was-- so nice to her. And she just... she had no clue why. "That makes sense. Yeah. Okay." She hesitated again, and there was a long silence. She could hear him praying, or something, under his breath. "Goro?" she said again. Lina: at 3:08 PM God, he just loved it when she said his name. It weirded him out how much he loved it. "Yeah?" Coyote: at 3:08 PM "Do you like girls? Because sometimes it seems like maybe you, um. Like boys." Lina: at 3:09 PM He froze. His face heated up. Good thing it was dark--ah, fuck, she could see in the dark. But she was all holed up in her bed. It was fine, as long as he tried to sound normal. "Um. Yeah. Yeah I do." Coyote: at 3:10 PM "Oh." She kept her back turned to him, not moving, but the very tip of her tail was resting outside the covers, and it twitched. Another long silence. "Well," Nixie said. "I like boys." Lina: at 3:14 PM Face on fire. On fire. "Oh, yeah?" He botched his concentration on the healing spell and pulled something that felt like it might be a tendon. "Ffff." He held his breath and let his eyes water until the initial jolt of pain passed. "Uh, really? It seemed like Jasper...." And then he decided he'd rather die than finish that sentence. In fact, he thought it would be best if he died right then anyway. Coyote: at 3:15 PM "Oh yeah," Nixie said. "Apparently I like girls sometimes too. I didn't know that. Did you know people could be like that? Both, I mean? Wow." Lina: at 3:15 PM Goro smiled down at his mangled arm. "Yeah. I did."(edited) Coyote: at 3:18 PM "Oh. Oh. You're like that, then. Oh that makes sense. Okay. Good. I mean, not good, just-- wow. Girls too. Boys, that's fine, that's okay. Good! Normal, I mean. Regular." Aloof. Fuck. She was still no good at this. Maybe she could get Mishka to teach her more. "Well." Another long silence. "Good night," she said. Lina: at 3:20 PM "Yeah. A regular guy. That's me." He should've stopped there. She was trying to sleep. His arm was in agony yet again. But the words just fucking came out. "Jasper's, uh, she's good to you? You like her?" Fucking idiot. She just said she liked her. Coyote: at 3:26 PM Nixie stiffened up. Face hot. Jasper had kissed her. Then said some really convincing things about having fun together. Then they'd spent the night together, in Jasper's room, when no one was around. It had been-- good. Really good. Embarrassingly good. It had been nice, and Jasper was kind to her. She didn't like Jasper, though. Well, she liked Jasper, but it wasn't... it wasn't the fierce way she liked Goro. Jasper was funny, and sweet to her, and paid attention to her, and was really good in the bedroom, and wow, Nixie had learned, like, a lot of things that night. A lot of things. But. She didn't like Jasper the way she liked Goro. "She's awfully funny," Nixie said. "She, um. Helped me figure out I liked girls? That was really sweet of her." Jasper lived in the Sanctuary, though. And it had been... what? Two days? It had been a fun fling. Nixie liked it a lot. But Jasper would go back to wooing girls at the Sanctuary; Jasper had gone back to that, like, that very afternoon. Jasper had flirted with another girl in front of her. Lina: at 3:29 PM Goro mulled over that for a while. It was an odd thing to say in the first place, but then Nixie sounded... a little unhappy about it, somehow. Jasper hadn't struck him as being a cruel person, but suddenly he was concerned. "Was she sweet to you? Really?" Coyote: at 3:34 PM Nixie crossed her arms over her legs. "No, no. She's nice. She just. I liked her, I thought. And she... flirted with another girl, right there, before we left. I don't think she--" Nixie looked askance. "I heard her talking to, to another one of those-- shady looking people. They asked her where she was that night and she said she was with me. And she said I was, I was easy and too sweet and... not worth it. She said she-- she said she just wanted a pretty girl and I was easy and there. And she was... disappointed I wasn't harder to catch." It made her feel awful. Like she'd done something wrong. She bit her tongue. "It's okay, though. Jasper didn't... didn't know I was there to hear. She wouldn't have said that if I were there." Also, Sugar didn't like her much, so it was fine.(edited) Lina: at 3:39 PM Goro looked up, slowly, at Sugar's curtains. The embarrassment was gone. Good, clean, white-hot rage was taking its place. There were a lot of things he could say, but promising to give Jasper a painful piece of his mind probably wasn't what Sugar wanted to hear. Also, he was trying to leave that kind of life behind him. Also, Jasper would snap him like a twig. Goddamn, though. "She didn't fucking deserve you," he said. Coyote: at 3:42 PM Nixie didn't know what to say to that. "Well," she said, thinking it over. She-- herself, that was-- she was quite pretty, and Mishka gave her all sorts of clothes and bangles. She was excellent at magic. Lots of people told her so. She worked hard at everything all the time. Lady liked her. And so did Goro, and Hansel, and Amari, and-- maybe Roddy and Raef? She wasn't sure. Yes, objectively, she was quite good. Goro was right about these things. "True," she decided. Lina: at 3:47 PM "I don't know," he began, and thought it would be a really damn bad idea to finish the sentence, but he was getting so tired, and his arm hurt like a motherfucker, "I don't know who could possibly deserve you." Somehow, letting that out made the spell flow easier. He healed the last of the injury, then stretched and flexed his fingers, satisfied. Coyote: at 3:52 PM "I'm sorry I mutilated your arm so bad your fingers stopped working," she said. "It's a nice arm." She'd ask him on a date after... after Diva is dead. Goro was safe, she decided, and honest, and kind to her. He wouldn't laugh or tease her. And he was right. She was, in fact, excellent. Maybe she'd ask him to go to the beach with her. Mishka had a private strip of white sand along the back of his vineyard, past the vines. They could all go. "Good night," she said. Lina: at 4:08 PM Psh, a nice arm. He turned it around and examined it, bemused. It was just an arm. But what a very Nixie thing to say. "Good night," he said softly. And thought again of that drawing she'd done of him, where he looked oddly gentle. END Category:Text Roleplay